Labels, for example self-adhesive labels, are commonly used to display various indicia or information regarding a chosen object. The labels may be applied to a package or container to identify the contents thereof and/or relate information concerning the contents. It has become increasingly desirable to provide such labels which include, as a part thereof, at least one removable portion which the user may detach from the package.
It is known, for example, to provide labels having removable coupon portions so that the consumer may remove and redeem the coupon at the point of sale. The remainder of the label may remain with the package and may include indicia relating thereto. Because these removable portions are intended to function as conventional coupons once removed, they are typically non-adhesive once removed. Examples of the aforedescribed labels are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,172,936 to Sullivan et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,329,713 to Lundell.
It is also known to provide pressure sensitive labels consisting of an adhesive backed release liner having a self-adhesive backed layer of face stock or the like releasably adhered to the release side of the liner. Such labels may be referred to as "piggy back" labels. After the label has been adhered to a package by means of the adhesive of the release liner, the end user may remove the layer of face stock and reapply it to another substrate using the adhesive on the back of the face stock. These labels are only provided with indicia on the upper surface of the face stock so that, when the upper ply is removed from the label, no indicia disposed on the remaining portion of the label is left to identify or characterize the package. A variation of the above described "piggy back" label is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,822,492 to Crawley wherein the disclosed label is adhered to the package by adhesive disposed on portions of the face stock with a non-adhesive backed release liner interposed between the remainder of the face stock and the package.
While the above described label products may be suitable for their intended uses, they are wholly inadequate for other applications. For example, in pharmaceutical and similar applications a bulk container is provided to a distributor such as a pharmacist or physician to be subdivided and repackaged. Two concerns arise in such case. First, the bulk container must provided with identifying and descriptive information. The information may include, for example, warnings, advertising, dosage instructions, disclaimers, and lot and expiration data. To ensure that the contents are positively identified and the integrity of the warnings, etc., are brought to the attention of the distributor, this information should be permanently secured to the bulk container. Secondly, provision should be made for conveniently and accurately identifying and describing the contents of the subdivision packages (e.g., containers in which prescribed quantities are distributed to patients). To ensure that the contents are positively identified and the integrity of the warnings, etc., are brought to the attention of the end users, this information should be permanently secured to the second containers.
The label designs of the prior art do not meet the needs of the bulk packaging/repackaging set forth above. In the case of the labels of the first design discussed (i.e., having removable coupons) no provision is made for securing the removable portion to a second substrate, for example, the second container. In the case of the "piggy back" labels, no provision is made for permanently securing indicia to the bulk container.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a label product which provides a primary portion which may be permanently secured to a first object and one or more second portions which are initially carried by the label product on the first object, but may be conveniently removed and permanently secured to a second object. In addition to the above described application, a label product making such provisions would also have many other advantageous uses such as, for example, a product label having removable novelty stickers.
There is a need for such a label product which may be, when positioned on the first object, opened to remove one or more of the second portions and resealed to protect one or more further second portions remaining on the label product.
There is a need for a label product as described above which allows for convenient and effective selection of release materials, stock materials, and adhesives as needed for the intended first and second objects.
There exists a need for a method for forming label products as described above which is efficient and cost effective.